Video Game Poise
Tsumiki was doing her absolute best to not have her shoulders hitch to her ears. Keeping them as still as possible, Tsumiki focused on the flashing screen. Game characters raced at each other, throwing and punching, sending each other flying offscreen and screaming until their untimely explosion. She idly focused on her controller, tapping buttons and wiggling her analog stick to make her character dash in a circle only for another character with a baseball bat to smash her character upside the head, launching her off.
"You have to keep your eyes on the screen, Tsumiki-san," Nanami said, her fingers rapidly pressing buttons on her controller. "Also, if you dash, you should combo it into an attack like a rapid punch or even a throw."
"Y-yes! Thank you!" Tsumiki blurted, watching her character jumping down after being revived.
She would have played marginally better, but she was too concerned with the weight pressing against her shoulder. Tsumiki swallowed, willing herself to peer down at Nanami only for soft bubblegum hair to obscure her vision. She felt Nanami shift against her shoulder, and she looked down as Nanami swung her legs up on the couch. Nanami's gentle humming hit Tsumiki's ears, and Tsumiki's breath became caught in her throat, hot scarlet painting her cheeks.
"Tsumiki-san, you're distracted," Nanami said, and Tsumiki yelped as her character was blasted offscreen once more.
Tsumiki whimpered, a small frown splitting on her face. She raised her controller to her eyes and grumbled at the victory screen for Nanami's character. The fanfare played with trumpets and percussion blaring, but through the noise, Tsumiki heard Nanami sigh.
"You're very good at shielding and light attacks, but you're a bit clumsy with running into opponents and timing your heavy attacks," Nanami replied, and Tsumiki's voice warbled as she struggled to think of a response. Nanami grinned, closing her eyes and setting her controller in her lap. "Maybe you should practice for a little bit, and I'll comment on your techniques. I think that'll be a good way for you to improve."
"A-and it's not because I'm bad?" Tsumiki asked, and Nanami shook her head, temple pressing to Tsumiki's bony shoulder.
"Of course not." Nanami smiled, leaning up and brushing a few stray hairs out of Tsumiki's face.
Tsumiki beamed. Her face flushed with pink, and she fidgeted with her controller. Selecting the training mode, Tsumiki picked her character with low-level CPU enemies facing her. She gulped, bringing her controller far out in front of her and rapidly tapped the jump button, watching her character either avoid strikes or get walloped by incoming punches.
"Tsumiki-san, this would be a good time to guard if you have three opponents ganging up on you," Nanami interjected, snuggling closer to her.
The scent of Nanami's hair wafted around Tsumiki, and she sucked down a hesitant breath, Hints of strawberries swarmed her senses, and as she held onto the guard button, Tsumiki felt the urge to rest her head upon Nanami's hair. She wanted to know how soft Nanami's hair would feel against her cheek, and the thought left her concentration swirling.
"A-ah! Tsumiki-san! Look out! Watch your percentage! If it gets too high, you'll lose!" Nanami cried, suddenly leaning forward and pointing at the screen.
Yiping at the lost sensation, Tsumiki dropped her controller as her character was propelled offscreen. Tsumiki moaned, holding her face and picked at her temples. Hearing the announcer offering her a retry, Tsumiki groaned that she did not want to play anymore.
"I'm sorry. I just got distracted," Tsumiki whimpered, wiping her eyes.
Nanami hummed, bending over to get the controller. Resting her finger on the start button, she glanced over to Tsumiki and gasped.
"That's it," she murmured, straightening her back.
"Uh, um, what's it?" Tsumiki asked, and she gnawed on her lip.
"It's our postures. I figured out that the way we're sitting is making this kind of difficult for you." Nanami raised her arm and slung it over Tsumiki's shoulder. Pulling the taller girl towards her, she grinned as Tsumiki squeaked. She felt Tsumiki squirm against her only to grace Nanami with light laughter. She curled against her, keeping both of their backs pressed against the couch. "See? Now, your eyes are now completely level with the screen, but maybe I should show you how it's done first?"
"That would be exceptionally nice, Nanami-san," Tsumiki crooned, and she immersed herself in strawberries as Nanami began to play.